Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 128.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,436 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 82,940 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.12% of Vaxcyte worth $12,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $979,184,000 after purchasing an additional 521,204 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $508,393,000 after buying an additional 1,312,302 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Vaxcyte by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,869,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,884,000 after buying an additional 82,997 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vaxcyte by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,495,000 after buying an additional 102,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,779,362 shares of the company's stock worth $145,659,000 after buying an additional 133,448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ PCVX traded down $0.47 on Thursday, reaching $33.50. The company had a trading volume of 397,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,356,960. The company's fifty day moving average is $40.20 and its 200 day moving average is $70.45. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $121.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.29 and a beta of 1.27.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.02) by ($0.02). During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.85) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PCVX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vaxcyte to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $136.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,351,794.37. This trade represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.